Mid C Mod Dream

I’m not sure where this dream began. But I do remember why it began. We were living in happily in Porter Ranch until one day in October of 2015 that odd smell of gas wasn’t going away this time. It permeated everything and soon our daughter was fainting and having nosebleeds more and more often. Zoe was a newborn then and the thought of it affecting her teeny tiny body also, scared us so we made the decision to evacuate along with hundreds of other families also living under the Aliso canyon gas leak. We were evacuated to a rental we affectionately called “the victim house”. We began thinking of what to do. We waited for the gas leak to stop but the constant leakage and the fear of our kids continuing to suffer with their health living there wasn’t worth going back to our home. We started to look for a new place to call home and maybe this time we could BUY a home! We started to at homes and we fell in love with Mid Century Modern Architecture. We became obsessed searching through the various pockets of Mod Century Modern homes the valley had hidden. Like little oasis scattered across the valley magically stopped in time. Some were updated and kept. Some were original and some we found were so far gone it would take too much work to restore. Then all of a sudden we were talking architecture and restoration! We had a small child and a baby but the thrill of living in our own piece of art thrilled us! Being first time buyers in a competitive market was difficult. We were out bid for every house we tried for. Everything slightly out of reach. Until we came across a house that caught our eye. It was in the Corbin Palms neighborhood in The San Fernando Valley. It was built by Palmer and Krisel as the first prototype homes for Palm Springs. This house was in the first phase of the tract so the lot was a bit smaller. The house had been kept and wasn’t falling apart. The important more expensive were newer, all it needed was a little TLC to help restore the mid century modern charm and  bring it back to life. The house was on a busy street but we were so in love with the history and vibe of the house that it wasn’t that big of deal for us at the time. During this time I found out I was pregnant again and suddenly we had out grown it before we even moved in but we felt we could still make it work. We dove right in as soon as we got the keys and a small reno became a two month long project. We started by tearing out the floors. And since there were no floors we might as well do the bathrooms. Then when we got to the kitchen we thought well, might as well go all in and do the kitchen too!! I’ll stop talking now and get to the pictures!

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We made this house our home and we were happy with our results. We still had so many projects to do! As much as we loved our home we couldn’t change the location and just as we left our first home for the safety our or kids we left this home for them too. For better schools for a quieter neighborhood for more space. I’m grateful of our mid c mod dream home for the experience and the opportunity it  gave us. We had so many fears purchasing a home. We take with us the strength that we gained because of the shelter it provided us, our memories of our little mid century modern dream and a life renewed it gifted us.
So, I guess, it’s on to our next home! I hope the next home is ready for us because we are ready to cozy up and stay a while.